Sigmoidoscopy

I haven't posted in a while but check in often. All has been going beautifully since my Colectomy/ one-step J-pouch in 2010 due to second recurrence of colon cancer. I went for a routine sigmoidoscopy the other day. I was allowed to eat the day before, although I ate lightly, with a prep of magnesium citrate after dinner and two fleet enema the following morning, an hour or so before leaving for procedure. I felt I was empty. After my procedure I was very discouraged when the doctor said he couldn't complete the procedure because he couldn't see anything because there was so much stool in my rectum. He said I possibly need a full colonoscopy prep before my next procedure. I was still in the "twilight daze" with my mouth hanging open in shock, I really had no time to process or think of questions. I'm thinking I shouldn't have been allowed to eat the day before the procedure but use the same prep process. I even reread the directions later that day to make sure I had it right. I worry that a full colonoscopy prep will be too much! What prep process have you all gone through to prepare for a sigmoidoscopy? Thanks for all your input, I appreciate it!!

While you can clean out a little J-pouch with a full colon prep, it's just silly and unnecessarily brutal. A simple Fleet's enema or two works just fine, but it's pointless to do it hours before the procedure, since the pouch will fill back up again. I suppose if you tend to have solid or nearly solid stool you might need to plan ahead to reduce the volume or loosen things up. Since the pouch is easy to get to, "wash before looking" pretty much covers it.

I do have a rectum and my stool can be solid\semi solid most times. The report stated "due to solid and semi solid stool throughout half the rectum, the mucosa could not be evaluated"I would be leery using a full prep next time, I'll have to discuss this with the doc.Thanks for all your input!!Carolyn

My surgeon just had me be NPO at midnight. I've never had an issue before, even with that. Prior to that, another doc had me be NPO at midnight, a Fleets before I left the house, and one directly before the test.

Hmmm . . . something to consider. I didn't have this issue 2 years ago when I last had a scope. I guess my pouch wasn't quite mature yet. Which I guess is a good thing, because now it works pretty well.